William C. Thomas Movies

Kent (Kent Lane) is a college-dropout-turned-drifter who travels South from Big Sur down the California coastline. His worried father (Jack Albertson) tries to bridge the ever-widening generation gap with his son, but Kent is born to wander through his life with no apparent sense of direction, searching for something elusive and unknown. One woman commits suicide after Kent declines her invitation to stay. Michele Carey is Julie, the woman working for a carnival who almost gets our anti-hero to settle down. Soundtrack music is provided by Tim Buckley, Kim Weston (who has a bit part in the film), Judy Collins, Mickey Stevenson and Neil Young. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Newly re-energized in the late 1950s, the venerable Pine-Thomas production company moved from Paramount to United Artists, there to make such actioners as Bailout at 43,000. John Payne stars as a courageous test pilot, who joins a team busily testing jet-bomber ejector seats. But before he can prove his worth to the team, Payne loses his nerve. Chances are he'll get it back in time to make the titular bailout at 43,000 feet, thereby redeeming himself in the eyes of his wife (Karen Steele) and son (Richard Eyer). The film truly comes to life during its aerial scenes, but crashes to earth during its treacly dramatic passages. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Phil Karlson, well-regarded by film buffs for his tough, no-nonsense crime dramas, directed this adventure story shot partially on location in the Caribbean. Mike Cormack (John Payne) was once a District Attorney, until his fiancée, Janet Martin (Mary Murphy), left him to marry another man. Depressed, Mike began drinking heavily, and eventually his alcoholism cost him his job. Trying to pull himself back up after hitting bottom, Mike gets a job as a bouncer at a casino in Las Vegas. Barzland (Francis L. Sullivan), a handicapped criminal, approaches Mike with an unusual offer. Barzland will pay Mike $5,000 if he can locate a ruby that went missing following the disappearance of a plane in the West Indies. Mike discovers that the reason he was picked for this job is that the pilot of the plane, Eduardo (Paul Picerni), is the man Janet chose to marry, and Barzland and his men believe that she might have clues as to the ruby's whereabouts that Mike could uncover. However, when Mike arrives to meet with Janet, he discovers that Eduardo is now in jail, and Janet begins to snare Mike in a web of lies and deceit. Hell's Island was rereleased in 1962 under the title South Sea Fury. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In his first western since 1939's The Oklahoma Kid, James Cagney is a pillar of integrity in the Pine-Thomas production Run for Cover. Cagney plays Matt Dow, who at the beginning of the film has been released from prison after serving six years for a crime he didn't commit. Heading westward, Matt befriends young Davey Bishop (John Derek), whom he begins to regard as the son (or brother) he never had. When Davey is injured during a train holdup, Matt brings him to the farm of Mr. Swenson (Jean Hersholt) to convalesce. Here Matt falls in love with Swenson's daughter Helga (Viveca Lindfors). When word of Matt's prowess with a gun reaches the local townsfolk, he is offered the job of sheriff. Matt accepts, but on one condition: that the crippled Davey be appointed deputy. Matt's faith in Davey proves to be misplaced when the embittered boy throws in with the dreaded Gentry gang, but an 11th hour regeneration caps this "psychological western." The curiously Freudian relationship between Matt and Davey was par for the course for Nicholas Ray, who directed Run for Cover betwixt and between his more famous endeavors Johnny Guitar and Rebel without a Cause. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this adventure, four explorers search for a vast treasure in the Amazon jungle. One of the explorers is a woman who got involved after she traveled from California to marry her fiance whom she hasn't seen in two years. Another man tries to convince her that her fiance has become an alcoholic idealist obsessed with finding gold in the jungle. Another takes her into the jungle to find her love. En route he falls in love with her. Later they learn that her fiance has been killed by the Jivaro headhunters. The other man, who went in before them is also attacked, but the woman's guide saves his life. This film did not use stock footage. Much of it was actually filmed in the jungle to provide the backgrounds. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Vanquished represented another winner from Paramount's Pine-Thomas unit. John Payne plays Rock Grayson, a Civil War POW who returns to his Southern home to find carpetbagger Roger Hale (Lyle Bettger) in charge of things. An old enemy of Grayson's, Hale has commandeered the Grayson family-mansion as his headquarters. He has also set his sights upon Grayson's girlfriend Jane Colfax (Colleen Gray) as his own. Urged by the townsfolk to spearhead a revolt against the despotic Hale, Grayson surprises everyone by agreeing to become Hale's chief tax collector. What no one knows is that Grayson is secretly planning to gather enough evidence to topple Hale through legal methods. Even so, the film is capped by a cathartic outburst of violent action. The Vanquished is based on a novel by cinematographer/screenwriter/director Karl Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the year 1783, as the British surrender to the colonists, Dr. Carlos Morales (Fernando Lamas) is one of many new Americans to rejoice in the victory. But his joy is muted by the impending death of General Victor Darby (Lester Matthews), his benefactor, who raised and educated Morales as though he were his own son. On his deathbed, the general insists that Carlos take over the running of Sangaree, his plantation outside of Savannah. It is a wish that Carlos heartily wishes to avoid carrying out, in part because he can't wholly forget the fact that Sangaree was where his own father toiled as an indentured servant and where aristocratic neighbors still regard him, medical degree or not, as nothing more than an upstart bond-slave; and also because the geeeral's dying wish will put Carlos on a collision course with Nancy Darby (Arlene Dahl), the general's headstrong, British-raised daughter, who expects to control the plantation herself. And sure enough, Nancy and her fiance Harvey Bristol (John Sutton), the son of the wealthy, deeply prejudiced Dr. Bristol (Francis L. Sullivan), do their best to undermine Carlos, challenging her father's will in court and humiliating and belittling him in public at every turn. Carlos prevails, through a mixture of courage, boldness, and good sense, even winning Nancy over, at least in part, but he soon discovers that securing control of Sangaree is only a small battle in the larger war he faces against greed, prejudice and ignorance -- there are pirates to contend with, and the lurking threat of plague, the latter complicated by Dr. Bristol's unaccountabl refusal to allow the inspection of his warehouses. And just as urgent as those larger problems are the lingering vengefulness of Harvey Bristol, who is prepared to kill Carlos by any means at his disposal, and the mysterious machinations of his best friend's wife Martha (Patricia Medina),like Carlos the descendant of a bond-slave; and the enigmatic Frenchman Pagnol (Charles Korvin), who seems to have an agenda of his own that includes piracy. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Library footage from the 1940 Paramount feature The Forest Rangers is used sparingly but effectively in the 1952 Pine-Thomas production The Blazing Forest. John Payne plays troubleshooting logger Kelly Hanson, who is hired by timber baroness Jessie Crain (Agnes Moorehead). Hanson is promised a huge bonus and percentage if he can deliver his quota of logs ahead of time, so that Jessie can afford to pay for her niece Sharon's (Susan Morrow) education. Along the way, Sharon falls in love with Hanson, only to have her heart broken when it appears that Hanson is carrying on with another woman (Lynne Roberts). All of the film's various subplots come to a head during a climactic forest fire, vividly photographed in Technicolor by Oscar-winning cinematographer Lionel Lindon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This thriller is set in Asia and follows the exciting exploits of a villainous soldier of fortune (Ronald Reagan) involved in shady shenanigans with the communists who gets caught red-handed by the authorities. He manages to escape and during his flight encounters a charming Chinese orphan who carries with him a priceless old statue. Wanting the sculpture, the mercenary allows the child to travel with him. He next teams up with a beautiful Red Cross volunteer. The three use their considerable con-artist skills to make it into a Hong Kong hotel room. There he finds himself feeling drawn towards the honest life by the woman and the child, but not before he steals the lad's statue and takes it to an art-dealer, who turns out to be a major crook. The mercenary finally goes straight after he nearly causes the boy's death. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Paramount's Pine-Thomas unit served up another winner with the Technicolor actioner Crosswinds. Set in New Guinea, the film stars John Payne as schooner captain Pete Singleton, who loses his boat to a pair of scheming gold thieves (Forrest Tucker, Robert Lowery). On board the vessel as a semi-reluctant passenger is embittered war widow Katherine Shelley (Rhonda Fleming). With the help of his disreputable chums Sir Cecil (Alan Mowbray) and Sykes (John Abbott), Singleton does his best to retrieve his schooner and claim Katherine for himself. The last reels are chock full of close shaves, hairbreadth escapes, storms at sea and native uprisings. In short, there's something for everyone in Crosswinds. The screenplay was adapted by Thomson Burtis from his own novel New Guinea Gold. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The fabled 19th-century clashes between U.S. Marines and the pirates of Tripoli have provided story material for dozens of films. Tripoli stars John Payne as two-fisted marine lieutenant O'Bannon, though top billing is bestowed upon Maureen O'Hara as Countess D'Arneau, who has come to Tripoli hoping to wed a local prince. Also appearing is Howard Da Silva as Captain Demetrios, leader of a band of mercenaries who sell their loyalties to the highest bidder. After a great deal of byplay between the three stars, the action comes thick and fast as the marines and the pirates "have at" each other. Tripoli's strongest selling card is the Technicolor cinematography of James Wong Howe. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Lawless was director Joseph Losey's second feature-length film. The story concerns a group of Mexican-American migrant workers who are subjected to all sorts of abuse and intolerance by their California bosses. A violent clash between whites and Latinos at a dance results in a torrent of bigotry. Seemingly the only Californian willing to champion the workers' cause is crusading newspaperman Larry Wilder, and soon he too is the victim of senseless mob violence. The story boils to a manhunt for a fugitive fruit-picker who has been accused of fomenting the aforementioned riot. Director Losey, producers William Pine and William Thomas and screenwriter Geoffrey Homes (aka Daniel Mainwaring) are to be commended for tackling a controversial issue in an honest, no-nonsense fashion; even so, the film ends in standard Hollywood-liberal fashion with a white man coming to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi